Meet the Greeks on the Forbes 400 Wealthiest People in America List

By TNH StaffOctober 20, 2017

The Forbes published the list of 400 richest Americans, which includes 9 Greek-Americans. The minimum net worth to make The Forbes 400 list of richest Americans is now a record $2 billion, up from $1.7 billion a year ago.

Every person in the top 10 got at least $1 billion richer in the past year, Forbessays. Number one for the 24th consecutive year is Bill Gates, who is now worth $89 billion, up $8 billion from a year ago. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, whose fortune rose $14.5 billion in a year, retains the number two spot for the second consecutive year with a net worth of $81.5 billion, while Warren Buffett holds onto the number 3 spot.

The most notable loser was President Donald Trump, whose fortune fell $600 million to $3.1 billion.

Follows the list of the richest Greek-Americans:

#122 Jim Davis & family

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$4.8 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$4.9 B
Jim Davis bought a small Boston shoemaker in 1972 and turned it into New Balance, which reaped $3.8 billion in 2016 sales.
Davis and his family own an estimated 95% of the company, which is private.
New Balance produces clothing and equipment for lacrosse and soccer but is known for its running shoes.

#200 Tom Gores

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$3.7 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$3.7 B
Tom Gores oversees more than 25 companies with some $13 billion in assets through his Los Angeles-based private equity firm, Platinum Equity.
The Gores family moved from Israel to Michigan when Tom was four. In his youth, he stocked shelves at his father’s small grocery store in Flint.

#248 John Catsimatidis

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$3.1 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$3.1 B
John Catsimatidis is best known as the owner of New York City supermarket chain Gristedes.
He also owns oil refinery United Refining in Pennsylvania, which he bought out of bankruptcy, and real estate in New York and beyond.
He moved with his family from Greece to New York when he was an infant and grew up in an apartment in Harlem.

#248 John Paul DeJoria

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$3.2 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$3.1 B
John Paul DeJoria is the founder of tequila maker Patrón Spirits Co. and cofounder of hair care company John Paul Mitchell Systems.
He slept in his car and sold shampoo door-to-door before he teamed up with Paul Mitchell in 1980 and turned $700 into John Paul Mitchell Systems.

# 340 George Argyros & family

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2.4 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2.4 B
The grandson of Greek immigrants, Argyros worked his way through high school and college in southern California as a paperboy and grocery clerk.
Argyros, a real estate mogul, founded property firm Arnel & Affiliates in southern California in 1968 and still runs it.

# 340 C. Dean Metropoulos

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2.3 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2.4 B
Metropoulos is best known for saving the iconic Twinkies and Hostess Brands; he and Apollo bought the shuttered firm in 2013 and it’s now public.
Through his Metropoulos & Co, he’s also turned around and sold Chef Boyardee, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Bumble Bee Tuna and others.
The Greek born entrepreneur is a trustee of the National Hellenic Museum located in Chicago.

# 340 Alexander Spanos & family

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2.4 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2.4 B
Alexander Spanos founded AG Spanos, one of the country’s largest apartment developers, in 1960. His sons, Dean and Michael, took charge in 2005.
Spanos bought a controlling stake in the Chargers in 1984, a team now worth $1.9 billion net of debt. His grandchildren John and A.G. run the team.

# 359 Alec Gores

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2.1 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2.2 B
Alec Gores founded private equity firm The Gores Group in 1987, which has acquired 110 companies and has $2 billion in assets as of June 2017.
Gores and his younger brother Tom, also a billionaire, immigrated to America from Israel with their parents and four other siblings in 1968.# 388 Peter Peterson

REAL TIME NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2 B
2017 FORBES 400 NET WORTH — as of 10/17/17
$2 B
To cap off his Wall Street career, Peterson cofounded private equity firm Blackstone Group in 1985 with Stephen Schwarzman, now also a billionaire.
He also served as Secretary of Commerce under President Nixon, and chair of New York’s Federal Reserve Bank from 2000 to 2004.
With one of the most distinguished résumés in America, Peterson was chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers in the 1970s and early 1980s.